NGC 891 is a showpiece edge-on spiral galaxy that is an irresistible target for imagers. Image: Bob Fera. NGC 891 comfortably takes its place in the pantheon of those special edge-on galaxies such as the Sombrero (Messier 104) in Virgo and NGC 4565 in Coma Berenices. It’s arguably the finest inclined spiral visible in the autumn sky. This showpiece object has a SA(s)b classification (see below), but its almost fully edge-on presentation makes a definitive designation problematic. Astronomers believe it bears some resemblance to our own Milky Way galaxy. NGC 891 is located 3.5 degrees east of m ..read more

The William Optics RedCat 71 looks fantastic in its all-red livery. Its tube length is just 335mm. In recent years, imaging methodology has moved from aftermarket modifications made to conventional telescopes and towards instruments designed from the ground up to serve the needs of astrophotography. The RedCat71 from William Optics is the new kid on the block aiming to serve this need, and courtesy of First Light Optics, I looked forward to seeing if it delivered. The Bahtinov mask is cleverly incorporated into the lens cap.In the box Quality is evident straight from the start. Eschewing ..read more

The Leonid storm of 2001 was memorable. Two fireballs were captured during the shower. Image: Tony Hallas. The Leonids, one of the most famous of all meteor showers, is predicted to reach its peak of activity this year at around 06:00 UT on the morning of 18 November. Observed rates seen under good conditions and dark skies should be in the region of just 10 to 15 an hour. Leonids are among the swiftest of meteors, smashing through the upper atmosphere at around 71 kilometres per second, and are often bright and leave persistent trains or trails across the sky. Thankfully, the Moon, a waxing c ..read more

Uranus shows off its bright North Polar Cap on 12 September this year. Image: Luigi Morrone. Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, comes to opposition on 13 November at 17h UT, located among the stars of Aries. At its vast distance of 2.8 billion kilometres (18.74 astronomical units), more than twice as far away as Saturn and between four and five times Jupiter’s distance, sunlight reflected from the ice-giant planet takes around 2.7 hours to reach Earth. Yet Uranus shines bright enough, at magnitude +5.7, to be faintly visible to the naked eye and appears large enough in apparent diameter ..read more

An example of a German equatorial mount, in this case a Losmandy G11. Before looking at a sample of equatorial (EQ) mounts on the market, we should answer three questions: what are they, why are they important and what makes some of them so astonishingly expensive? An EQ mount is one that places the telescope on a rotating axis parallel with the Earth’s axis of rotation. Although an EQ mount placed at the equator will be offset from the Earth’s polar axis by just under 6,700 kilometres (the radius of the Earth) it can, for astronomical purposes, be considered as being effectively on that axis ..read more

The James Webb Space Telescope recently turned its infrared eye on the Crab Nebula to learn more about the supernova that created the billowing structure. The explosion was first observed in China in 1054 and the cloud of gas and debris left behind was first seen in 1731. At the center of the image, the Crab’s remnant pulsar, spinning at 30 times per second, can be seen as a brilliant white dot surrounded by compact rings of dust and gas. Webb used its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to produce this striking image. The Crab Nebula as seen by the James Webb ..read more

The eVscope 2 looks identical to the eVscope 1, even down to the silver tube and charcoal grey livery of its predecessor. It doesn’t even have an ‘eVscope 2’ label on the side! Image: Ade Ashford. Headquartered in the sun-drenched Mediterranean coastal city of Marseille in southern France, Unistellar manufactures technologically advanced telescopes that eschew conventional optical designs in favour of a hybrid opto-electronic approach: one ‘sees’ what the eVscope is looking at, either through a high-quality miniature OLED (organic LED) screen masquerading as an eyepiece on the side of the inst ..read more

The Antlia ALP-T dual-band colour imaging filter comes in a dustprotecting envelope placed in a foam-based plastic case. This provides good protection for the filter. Four magnets allow the lid to snap into place. Image: Nik Szymanek. There has been a radical change in the way that astrophotographers image the night sky. Step back ten years and the majority were using monochrome CCD cameras fitted with a selection of LRGB and narrowband filters housed in an electronic or manual filter-wheel. Although producing super results, great dedication was required in terms of the time needed to secure e ..read more

M74 is one of the best spiral galaxies of the autumn sky but its low surface brightness can make it a tough capture in unfavourable observing conditions. Image: Adam Block Messier 74 (NGC 628) is a spiral galaxy out of the top-drawer. This far-flung island universe yields awe-inspiring images, its sweeping spiral arms being presented in the ‘grand-design’ manner. This term is reserved for face-on spirals characterised by prominent spiral arms that wrap around the nucleus in a fashion similar to the magnificent Whirlpool Galaxy (Messier 51), probably the archetypal grand-design spiral.  Me ..read more

The Great Galaxy in Andromeda (M31), is a magnificent spiral galaxy well on show on autumn evenings. M32 lies to the south of M31’s core, while NGC 205 (M110) is located to the core’s north-west. Image: Terry Hancock. Messier 31, the Great Galaxy in Andromeda, is the closest major galaxy to our Solar System and the dominant galaxy in the Local Group of galaxies, larger than our own Milky Way Galaxy. As such, it is readily visible to the naked eye as a third-magnitude (+3.4) smudge of light (unless the sky is very misty or badly light-polluted), making it the most distant object that can be see ..read more